Steam heating system



Jan 6, 3931. A. J. LARSSON STEAM HEATING SYSTEM Filed May 25, 1927INVENTQR, AXEL J UL! us LARSSON.

ATTOfiNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1931 uNirEDrsTATES NT" F C AXEL JULIUS.LARSSON,

or nonnrnen, swnnn'n l f STEAM HEATInesYsrnM Application filed May 25,1927, Serial No. 194,036; and in Sweden May 29,1926.

7 As is well known, in steam heating systems for railway cars radiatorsconnected in parallel as well as in series are used.

The control of the steam quantity supplied to the radiators is generallyeffected by means of controlling means inserted, at suit able points inthe steam pipe system.

' In arrangements having radiators con- 'nected in parallel, two pipelinesextending through the cars are commonly used. One of these lines isadapted to supply the required steam to the radiators and thesecond oneto discharge the condensation water formed by" the steamcondensing inthe adiators.

' In this case'the controlling means is generally placed in front of orwithin each radiator and the control of the steam supply is effectedbythrottling, 111016'01 less, the passage in said controlhng means.

This method of controlling the supply of steam is very objectionablesince under certain conditions steam may enter the condensation waterline causing the same to wastefully'radiate heat at points where it isnot desired, and such radiation will take place even though the controlmeans on the radiator for that point is entirely closed. Thisundesirable radiation may occur at times of minimum steam consumption,at times when the pressure in the main steam line is increased or attimes when the steam entering one or more radiators is being throttled.I

This entrance of steam into the condensation water line may be properlycalled a short-circuit, which is undesirable for another reason. For ifsuch a short-circuit occurs through a radiator located near the feedpoint in the steam line, the steam will be shunted thereby to thecondensation water line, and succeeding radiators may not be fed anysteam although the control means therefor is at maximum opening. Thisdisadvantage has not been overcome by the use of a central automaticcontrolling means.

A steam heating system for railwaycars has recently been proposedwherein the individual radiators are shunted or in parallel cars. Insuch. a system a control means must he placed at the inlet ofeachradiator to regulate the admission ofsteainand a control means atthe outlet of each radiator toregu late the discharge of the condensedsteam.

VVhenheit is not desired and the radiator is cut out of the'line,'theifewill still be a dis chargefof the condensed steam from the raitliator.

The inconveniences of this last mentioned system are that said outletfor condensation water in cases of cold weather is liable to be chokedwith ice and that all thezcondensation-water formed in the radiators isforced to pass'throughj the steamline up to and through the lastradiator. The result is that the end of the circuit the steam pipe andThe present invention relates to a 0011- 31111 arrangement b WlllCll allthe above I mentioned inconveniences are avoided, and it is illustratedin theannexed drawing which is a diagrammatic view, partly in section,of an embodiment of a system according to this invention. L

As shown by the drawing the heating system is divided into two maincircuits, a feedin and an equalizing circuit, having amain steam supplypipell, 1. The feeding c1r-,

cuit is adapted to supply sufficient steam to the radiators and theequalizing circuit is -adapted, in connection with a, well known steamcontroller 2, to control the quantityof steam supplied to said radiators3. The condensation waterformed in the radiators by the condensation ofthe steam is discharged through a special pipe line 4, 4 into the jacket17 ,and is drained therefrom through holes '18 at. atmospheric pressure.

Said steam regulator 2comprisesa jacket surrounding a thermostaticelement 7, said jacket 17 having holes 18 inthe bottom thereof throughwhich the condensation water drains. Said thermostatic element 7actuates a throttle device 6 througha solid rod 19. Said throttledeviceis placed in the pipe 11 to regulate the flow of steam therein.

Feeders 12conductf the steam from the main steam supply pipe throughvalves 8 to the individual radiators 3. The ends of the steamsupply pipe1, which are beyond the pointsat which the feeders 12 are connected,

are joined :to an equalizing pipe 5 through valves 9. Said equalizingpipe 5 is connected to jacket 17 by means of a pipe 20 so that any steamentering said equalizing circuit will come in contact with andoperatethrottling device 6 through the thermostatic element 7 and rod 19.

The condensation Water 1s drained from the radiators 3 into jacket 17through individual outlet lines 14-, return mains 4: and 4. Thearrangement works in the following manner. 7

If the main line 11 is under steam pressure and the throttle device 6 isopen, steam Wlll'flOW through this throttle device into main supply pipe1 and feeders 12 through the valves 8 into the radiators 3. Any excesssteam that does not enter the radiators will pass through the valves 9to'the pressure equalizing line 5. Valves 8 and 9 should be adjusted sothat all the steam entering the radiators 3 or equalizing line 5 will becondensed. Therefore with proper adjustment of said valves condensationwater only will be discharged through pipe 20 and through outlet lines14 and pipe lines 4 and 4 to the jacket 17. t v

If the steam pressure in the line 11 should rise or one or moreradiators 3 be cut off from steam supply, the steam pressure willincrease within the system, which results in the fact that steam,through the pressure equalizing line 5, flows to and acts upon the Theadvantage of such a heating system having circuits which areinterconnected as "described is that no waste results since live steamcannot'be discharged with the condensation water for any appreciablelength of. time. Upon an, increase of steam pressure within the feedingcircuit, steam may appear in the equalizing circuit, depending of courseon the openings in valves 9, if such steam appears it willcause steamcontroller 2 to throttle the steam in line ll'through the action ofthermostatic element 7, rod 19 and throttling device 6. Also valves 8may be adjusted so that steam will be discharged fromoutlet lines 1%,through the connecting lines 1,4 into jacket 17, whereupon throttlingwill again take place in line 11. Consequently outlet lines 14 will notcontain steam for any great length of time.

Another consideration .is that since steam cannot appear in the specialpipe line 4 for any appreciable length of time it cannot back up intoradiators that are shut off and cause any appreciable heating which isnot desired andwhich is therefore wasteful.

By increased efficiency the heating surface and pipe line's may bereduced, by which fact a considerable saving in construction and workingcosts is obtained.

Having now particularly described the nature of my invention and themanner of its operation, what I claim is:

A steam heating system for railway cars comprising a steam supply line,a throttling device in said supply line, a discharge pipe, a pluralityof radlators inserted 1n parallel between said supply line and dischargepipe, an individual valve on each radiator, a thermostatic elementactuating said throttling device, a jacket encasing the thermostaticelement and communicating'with the atmosphere, the discharge end of thedischarge pipe being connected to said acket, a second pipe connected tothe steam supply line beyond the 'most remote radiator in the system andalso connected to said jacket, and a throttle device in said secondpipe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

AXEL JULIUS LARSSON.

